Judge’s decision throws uncertainty into immigration...

1of 7Clementina Herrera comforts her son Luis Manuel Herrera, age 6, who's father is in Ciudad Juarez, as he explains that he believes God will make it so his family can be together. A group of 27 gathered to rally for immigration reform in front of Devine Redeemer Presbyterian Church sponsored by the Texas Organizing Project. The group lit candles, told their own personal stories of immigration and ended in prayer. The group is planning another gathering on Saturday at 2:00pm in front of San Fernando Cathedral. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

2of 7Luis Osvaldo Rocha, 20, looks over his paperwork while in the family's apartment in the city's south side, Tuesday, February 17, 2015. Rocha, a student at Palo Alto College, was hoping to file the paper work today but didnÕt due to a temporary court order issued by Brownsville Federal Judge Andrew Hanen halting part of President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration reform. The lawsuit was filed by the state of Texas. Rocha, who is from Guanajuato, said, ÒItÕs a sad thing. Maybe they, (Govenor Greg Abbott), havenÕt met people like us. WeÕre hardworking peopleÓ.Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

3of 7Blanca Espinoza leads a group of 27 in prayer as they gathered to rally for immigration reform in front of Devine Redeemer Presbyterian Church sponsored by the Texas Organizing Project. The group lit candles, told their own personal stories of immigration and ended in prayer. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

4of 7Marina Saenz Luna, right, lights her candle off of Tanari Ochoa's candle as a group of 27 gathered to rally for immigration reform in front of Devine Redeemer Presbyterian Church sponsored by the Texas Organizing Project. The group lit candles, told their own personal stories of immigration and ended in prayer. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

5of 7A group of 27 light candles as they gather to rally for immigration reform in front of Devine Redeemer Presbyterian Church sponsored by the Texas Organizing Project. The group lit candles, told their own personal stories of immigration and ended in prayer. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

6of 7Mercedes Herrera and others chant during an event on DACA and DAPA Immigration Relief at the Houston International Trade Center, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, in Houston. The White House promised an appeal Tuesday after a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration and gave a coalition of 26 states time to pursue a lawsuit aiming to permanently stop the orders. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Melissa Phillip)Photo: Melissa Phillip, MBI / Associated Press

7of 7Hector Rodriguez, 21, planned to apply for DACA on Wednesday
Until a federal judge in south texas blocked implementation.Photo: Aaron Nelsen, San Antonio Express-Newss

Luis Rocha was supposed to meet with his lawyer Tuesday to put the finishing touches on his application for deferred action, which would have given him a reprieve from deportation and the chance to apply for a work permit.

Rocha, 20, came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico in September 2007, missing by months the cutoff date for a previous version of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. After that disappointment, Rocha was excited to learn in November that he and his brothers would have a chance at legal status under Obama’s expanded version of DACA.

A similar program for the parents of U.S. citizens would apply to his father, because one of Rocha's brothers was born here.

More Information

What are DACA

and DAPA?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: DACA was announced in 2012. It provides a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit for some young immigrants who came to the U.S. before June 15, 2007, and were born on or after June 15, 1981. The Migration Policy Institute estimates 1.2 million people were eligible for the original DACA. As of last summer, 550,000 people had received benefits under DACA. It wasn’t affected by the judge’s ruling.

Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents: DAPA was announced in November. The program offers three years of protection from deportation and a work permit to parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the country since Jan. 1, 2010. The Migration Policy Institute estimates up to 3.7 million people are eligible for DAPA. The government was planning to accept applications for the program in May. It was put on hold by the judge’s ruling.

Expanded DACA: Also announced in November, it expands DACA to three years and applies to immigrants who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and have lived here since Jan. 1, 2010. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that about 300,000 people qualify. It was put on hold.

Read More

The Justice Department says it will appeal Hanen’s decision.

The ruling dashed Rocha’s hopes that he no longer would have to worry about getting stopped by immigration authorities. A business student at Palo Alto College who earns money delivering vegetables to restaurants, he drives to and from work and school.

“I have the fear,” he said. “Everyone in my family has that fear, that they’re not sure they’re going to go home. It’s hard.”

In light of the ruling, the Obama administration announced Tuesday it will not be accepting applications for the expanded DACA program, which was estimated to affect almost 300,000 people. The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, scheduled to begin this spring, also has been indefinitely suspended.

DAPA, as it’s known, is the widest-ranging of Obama’s immigration actions. As many as 3.7 million immigrants who are here illegally but have U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident children would be affected.

Hanen’s ruling won’t affect the estimated 1.2 million young immigrants eligible for the original DACA, announced in 2012.

Texas led the way as 26 states sued the federal government, arguing the president’s executive action would encourage more illegal immigration and cost taxpayer money as state governments were forced to grant benefits, such as driver licenses, to those here illegally.

Administration officials predict their appeal will succeed.

“This wouldn’t be the first time a district court has made a decision like this that gets overturned at a later process,” Cecila Muñoz, Obama’s domestic policy adviser, said in a conference call with reporters. “The administration is very confident the executive actions that the president took are well within the president’s authority.”

Hanen didn’t dispute the administration’s discretion when it comes to deportations. His decision rests on the impact of benefits granted to immigrants in the country illegally, and a technical issue that the Homeland Security Department violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it bypassed a comment period.

Before Obama’s orders go into effect, homeland security should have published the proposed changes in the federal register, then allowed for public comments, Hanen wrote.

“His ruling was exceptionally narrow,” explained Marshall Fitz, vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress. “We think his standing analysis is very thin and I don’t see how that would be sustainable on appeal, but we also think the APA analysis is flawed.”

The decision earned praise from critics of the president’s immigration policies.

While administration officials touted what they say will be a positive economic impact from the deferred action programs — between $90 and $210 billion, an increase in wages and more workers on the tax rolls, they said — the head of an organization for restricting immigration said Hanen’s ruling protects U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.

“Struggling American families can find hope in the judge's ruling, which at least temporarily halts the issuance of work permits in March that would have begun allowing millions of illegal foreign workers to compete directly with American workers for new job openings,” Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, said in a statement.

For Hector Rodriguez, 21, of Pharr, this was just the latest bump in the road after he came to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.

With the government prepared to begin accepting DACA applications Wednesday, Rodriguez, a student at South Texas College with an associate’s degree in biology, said he even had saved money to pay for his application.

“It’s discouraging, but I’ve been dealing with this since high school,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen this time, when I get out of school, like most other people, I’ll keep waiting.”